Fleeting Love, Lasting Ache
by Kasigi Omi
Summary: Gateau gets a new job and a new love interest. A beautiful young man named Marron. Shonen ai.


Notes: Not much to say here, except this idea occurred to me while walking through the school hallways. The characters aren't mine. Damn.  
  
  
  
Fleeting Love, Lasting Ache  
  
Gateau sighed and leaned back against the wall of the building. Here he was, twenty years old, standing in a high school. True, he was there with Eclair, waiting for her to get her schedule for her first year of high school, but he still felt weird. Weren't parents supposed to go with their kids to do this sort of thing? And why did she insist he wait outside while she went in to find her way around? Was she embarrassed of him or something?  
  
His confused thoughts were cut off as a radiant vision made itself apparent to him. The young man, probably a new teacher, didn't seem to notice he was being watched as he walked from the parking lot to the door of the school. He was dressed in flowing white clothes, and had the most beautiful long, black hair that Gateau had ever seen. In the first moment that he saw him, Gateau had already fallen head over heels in love.  
  
A direct result of this was the feeling that this gorgeous creature had to see him. With no conscience thought, Gateau stepped forward and flexed his muscles. "Like what you see?" he asked.  
  
The young man turned to look at him, a rather confused look in his eyes, which Gateau now perceived were golden. "Excuse me?" he asked in a calm, quiet voice that still managed to have the force of self confidence in it.  
  
"I was just wondering if you liked my muscles." The look the man was giving him made him feel rather stupid, as if flexing wasn't the best way to gain his interest. Besides, who even said he liked men in the first place? Oh, Gateau could be so idiotic sometimes!  
  
"Well, I suppose they're nice if you like large muscles," the beauty conceded, brushing a few strands of hair behind his ear.  
  
"Uh, yeah." Gateau had never felt so ridiculous. "Um, my name is Gateau. Gateau Mocha." Nervously, he extended a hand and felt his heart leap with hope when the young man took his hand and shook it. Never before had he felt such smooth skin.  
  
"I'm Marron Glace. Nice to meet you." Marron smiled and Gateau felt himself grinning foolishly.  
  
Before Gateau could ask Marron why he was at the school, Eclair jogged up to them. "I'm ready to go," she announced.  
  
"Okay," Gateau nodded, patting her on the head. "Maybe I'll see you around," he added to Marron.  
  
Marron shrugged. "Perhaps," he replied, enigmatically.  
  
As they left, Gateau felt like he was walking on air. First he got a new job as a police officer, and now he had just run into the person he was sure was his soul mate. What a great day!  
  
  
  
"Mocha!"  
  
Gateau sat up from where he had been dozing in his chair. "Uh, yeah, Boss?"  
  
Lieutenant Torte sighed. "Sleeping on the job again, I see. I suppose I picked the right man for the new assignment then."  
  
"Huh? New assignment?"  
  
"Yeah. The high school down the street is looking for an on campus police officer. I think you would be perfect for the job. After all, how could you possibly sleep while walking around all day? And doesn't your sister go there?"  
  
"Wait. The one down the street? Stellar High School?" Gateau could hardly believe his luck. That was where Marron worked!  
  
"Yeah." Lieutenant Torte gave him a look that plainly said that he thought he was an idiot, but Gateau didn't care. He got to work near Marron!  
  
  
  
"And here's the main office," the principal of Stellar High School concluded, finishing her tour. She was a beautiful woman, not very old, but very mature. The students all adored her. In fact, they all referred to her as Big Mama. "Do you think you can find your way around, Officer Mocha?"  
  
Gateau nodded. "I think so. Thanks."  
  
Mama smiled. "I'm glad you've come to join us for this school year."  
  
"Yeah, so am I." Gateau just knew that his life was going to change during the course of the year. The only question was, how much?  
  
  
  
The rain beat down on Gateau's head, soaking his hair and clothes. Why had his jeep chosen that morning to break down anyway? The walk to the school from home had been no big deal. He only lived twenty minutes away by foot and the morning had been nice, even if the sun hadn't been up yet. Sadly, the clouds had come around noon and it had begun raining soon after. The only good thing he could think of was the fact that Eclair had been ill that morning and so hadn't gone to school. At least she didn't have to be out in this weather!  
  
"Need a ride?" a voice called from the car that had pulled up alongside him.  
  
"You've got a lot of nerve, offering a policeman a ride. Hitchhiking is illegal, you know," Gateau muttered, bitterly. Apparently the weather was getting to his mood. Of course the fact that he hadn't seen Marron once in the three weeks since school had started hadn't helped.  
  
Soft laughter glided from the window of the car. "But this is different. I know who you are."  
  
For the first time since the car had stopped next to him, Gateau glanced up from the sidewalk at the sleek black car. "Marron?"  
  
Marron nodded. "I was beginning to think that you didn't remember me. We did only meet for a moment. So, do you want a ride?"  
  
"Sure!" Gateau eagerly pulled open the passenger door, and then stopped, at a loss.  
  
"Don't worry about getting the seat wet. This car is old."  
  
"Um, okay." Surprised at how nervous he was, Gateau slid into the cushioned seat. "Thanks a lot."  
  
"No problem," Marron replied, pulling back out onto the road. "Where do you live?"  
  
"Not far. Just turn left at the light down here, then turn right onto the second street past the intersection," Gateau directed, making hand motions to emphasize his point.  
  
"You live on Chestnut?"  
  
"Yeah. You know about it?"  
  
"One of my best friends lives on that street. I go over there all the time."  
  
"Really," Gateau replied, while inwardly he was jumping for joy. Marron showed up in his neighborhood on a regular basis! Maybe he'd get to see him then, and Marron would invite him to hang out with his friends with him, and they'd get to know each other, and fall in love and..  
  
"What house?" Marron's gentle voice interrupted Gateau's train of thought right before he could envision the matching gold wedding bands.  
  
"Um, four driveways from this point, on the left. Big tan house. Can't miss it."  
  
Too soon, the car turned into Gateau's driveway. "Here you are."  
  
Gateau almost sighed as he looked up at the familiar house. Now he had no excuse to stay near Marron, and he had wasted his precious chance to talk to him by daydreaming the whole time! "Thanks," he said glumly.  
  
"No problem. I was actually heading this way anyway."  
  
"Going to visit your friend?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Well, have fun." Reluctantly, hoping the whole time that Marron would call him back and invite him along, Gateau opened the door and climbed out. Marron waved goodbye to him as he climbed the steps to his front door, and then backed out of the driveway. Gateau watched the car leave until it was out of sight.  
  
  
  
It had been a long three weeks. Every day, Gateau walked home from the school, along the same route, hoping that Marron would offer him another ride. Apparently Marron didn't usually go that way, or the rain had made him more sympathetic. Sure, he had glimpsed the raven-haired beauty several times in the hallway, but Marron never seemed to notice him.  
  
As he was brooding on this, he heard a familiar voice.  
  
"Shut up about it, Chocolate!"  
  
"But this is a big deal! You'll finally be legal! One's eighteenth birthday is important. I just hope you don't celebrate it by hiding in your room and reading all day! You need to live a little, Marron!"  
  
"Oh, why do you and my brother have to come and visit us here! You both graduated last year!"  
  
"We do it because we love you!" the lovely red-haired woman laughed, patting the taller Marron on the head.  
  
"He's only seventeen? That means he's a.. student," Gateau realized, blushing from head to toe, still absently following the party of four down the hallway. Marron was walking calmly to lunch with a young pink-haired woman Gateau had seen him with before, as well as the red-haired girl, Chocolate, and another boy, apparently Marron's older brother. "Well, he sure got the looks in the family," Gateau chuckled to himself, just glad that Marron was almost legal. Then he wouldn't feel like a pedophile.  
  
Suddenly an idea came to his mind and he pushed through the crowd to reach the group. "Hey, Marron."  
  
Marron glanced in his direction and smiled. "Hello, Officer Mocha."  
  
Gateau shook his head. "I introduced myself to you as Gateau, you can just call me that. No need for formality."  
  
"Very well, Gateau. May I introduce you to my older brother, Carrot, and the Misu sisters, Chocolate and Tira. My brother and I grew up with them. They're like sisters to us."  
  
"Oh no, Marron," Chocolate chided, hugging Carrot. "Darling doesn't think of me as a sister, does he?"  
  
"Hey Chocolate! Let go!" Carrot wailed, thrashing vainly.  
  
"Sister!" Tira cried, in such an obviously distraught way that any worries Gateau may have had about she and Marron being an item were instantly dispelled. The girl was hopelessly in love with Carrot. Oh well. No accounting for some peoples tastes.  
  
"Anyway, I overheard your conversation. When's your birthday?"  
  
Marron turned his back pointedly on his friends and the scene they were making. "In two days."  
  
"That's cool. Hey, if I don't see you before then, Happy Birthday."  
  
Marron smiled warmly. "Thank you."  
  
Gateau walked off feeling giddy.  
  
  
  
A month later, Big Mama called him to her office. "Yes, Mother?" he asked respectfully, seating himself in a chair in front of her desk.  
  
She smiled. "Officer Mocha, I would just like to say right now that I think you are doing an excellent job here. Thank you."  
  
"No, thank you. Besides, I enjoy my job."  
  
"I'm very glad. Now, to get down to business. I called you here to discuss the upcoming Homecoming dance and game."  
  
"Ah, yes. I was wondering about that situation."  
  
"It would be too much to ask you to work at the game, and then be on duty at the dance, so I am offering you the choice. You can pick either the dance or the game. I will arrange for other officers to chaperone whichever one you do not choose."  
  
"Thank you for offering me the option, but I was prepared to attend both."  
  
"That will not be necessary. You deserve a break. After all, our numbers on graffiti and smoking in the school building are way down this year, and the students all adore you."  
  
"I'm flattered to hear that," Gateau blushed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Suddenly he froze as a mental image of himself at the dance, walking up to a nicely dressed Marron and asking him to dance, flashed across his mind. "I think I'll watch the dance."  
  
"Very good. It is much less rowdy than the game, certainly. Just try to be here and hour early, at seven, please."  
  
"You bet."  
  
  
  
"Aw! Why do you have to go to the dance?" Eclair whined for the twelfth time in the last hour. She was sitting disconsolately on the couch in her shimmering blue dress.  
  
"Because it's my job," Gateau replied, straightening his bow tie. Mama had told him to dress for the occasion, so he had pulled out his much neglected tuxedo. Besides, Marron was legal. He had to look his best when he asked him to dance.  
  
"It's not fair."  
  
"Tough luck." Gateau didn't get his sister. When it was just the two of them, she adored him and hung all over him, but when her friends were around she avoided him. He attributed it to being a freshman. "I've got to go now. Are you sure Michelle's mother is taking you?"  
  
Eclair tugged at the hem of her dress. "Yes."  
  
"Okay. Just be home before one, you got that?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Oh, and one more thing."  
  
She looked up at him and cried out in surprise as he snapped a picture. "You look beautiful, as a Mocha should. Have fun!" Then he dashed out the door while she screamed at him for taking her picture.  
  
  
  
"Man, I've been here two hours and I haven't seen Marron once!" Gateau groaned, glancing again at his watch. It wasn't that he hadn't been looking, it was just that the school gym was horribly crowded, and the students could also go into the cafeteria. Basically, that made it really hard to find one individual. However, he had found his sister eight times, and even come across Carrot and Tira dancing together. Unfortunately, they hadn't known where Marron was either.  
  
"Probably with one of his psycho friends," Carrot had grumbled, and then given Gateau a dirty look. "What are you looking for my little brother for anyway?"  
  
Needless to say, Gateau had quickly made his exit.  
  
Now he was standing against the wall, when a nauseatingly slow love song began playing. "I hate boy bands," he muttered to himself, glaring at the students as they divided off of the whole into couples. That was when he saw him.  
  
Marron, standing in the middle of the gym, clad in tight black pants and a black silk shirt with a blood red rose in the lapel. He was smiling and slightly flushed, presumably from dancing. Gateau had never seen him look so beautiful. With a huge grin on his face, more from nervousness than anything, he began making his way through the crowd towards him. He just had to have one dance with him!  
  
When he was about three fourths of the way there, Marron noticed him and smiled sweetly. Gateau returned the smile and sped his steps, until a figure came in between them.  
  
It was a beautiful young woman in a black dress, her purple hair done up in a high ponytail and tied back with a teal ribbon. Her large golden hoop earrings matched the color of her eyes. She beamed at Marron as she grabbed his arm, love and devotion, mixed with a certain amount of mischief in her eyes.  
  
Feeling a certain amount of foreboding, Gateau approached the two. "Hello, Marron. You look nice tonight."  
  
"Thank you. You look very nice yourself," Marron replied. "Oh, and may I introduce you to Mille Feuille, or Milphey as I call him."  
  
"Him?" Gateau blinked incredulously. Sure enough, the supposed woman was very flat.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Officer Mocha," Milphey said, obviously not particularly interested. "Can we dance, Marron?"  
  
"Of course. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Gateau." With that, Marron took Milphey into his arms, molding the other body close, making the nature of their relationship painfully evident.  
  
"Thanks. You too," Gateau said feebly, staggering away. The rest of the evening passed in a blur. Only one thing after that incident stuck in his memory of that evening. A painfully clear image of Marron and Milphey kissing on the dance floor. The next day he resigned from his post at the school. It was just too painful to remain.  
  
Mama was sad to see him go, but she understood. The shards of a broken heart can cut deep, and are sometimes never dislodged. While the love may be fleeting, the pain can be eternal. She only hoped he could heal. 


End file.
